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Rich nations restore their own forests but trash those elsewhere

One tree gets planted, another gets cut down

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By Fred Pearce

Don’t be too proud if your country is busy replanting its lost forests. While it’s true that many rich countries are restoring their own forests, they are also indirectly responsible for deforestation elsewhere.

A new study finds that richer nations grow their forests, while poorer nations lose them. Since ever more nations are becoming wealthy, in theory this could drive global reforestation.

The authors say that more developed countries intensify agriculture on the best farmland, and give the rest back to nature. This trend is …